They were arrested in an operation conducted by Rwanda National Police on Friday, August 5, at about 5am, in Gishwati National Park on the side of Gatomvu Village, Mugarura Cell, Muhanda Sector. They were caught in possession of 4kgs of Wolfram.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, the Police spokesperson for the Western region, said that the illegal mining activities were reported by local residents.
“After Police was tipped off by local residents in Gatomvu village on illegal mining, an operation was conducted and the suspects were arrested red-handed with traditional tools excavating minerals. They had already mined 4kgs of Wolfram,” said SP Karekezi.
He reminded the public that illegal mining particularly in protected areas and vandalizing forest are practices that are punishable by law.
The suspects and the exhibits were handed over to RIB at Kabaya station for further legal investigations.
Article 72 of the Law N° 064/2021 of 14/10/2021 governing biological diversity provides that without prejudice to provisions of other laws, a natural person who undertakes minerals exploration activities or exploits mines or quarries in a protected area, commits an offence.
Upon conviction, he or she is liable to a term of imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than three (3) years and a fine of more than Rwf5 million and not more than Rwf7 million.
If the offence referred to in Paragraph One of this Article is committed in a national park or a strict nature reserve, the penalty is a term of imprisonment of not less than three (3) years but not more than five (5) years and a fine of more than Rwf7 million but not more than Rwf10 million.
This ranking was made in consideration of the living index. The latter compares the expected average cost of necessities such as food, clothing, entertainment, health care and other and how much each would cost you to have a living in that city.
It is calculated by comparing the prices of a range of goods and services on which consumers spend their money. Costs are broken down by category, like health care, food and housing, and weighted based on spending patterns and individual budgets.
{{Dakar}}
Dakar is the capital city of Senegal in West Africa with a population of over 16 million people. The report showed it is the most expensive city to live in. It has been on the top of this list since the beginning of this year.
Dakar is expensive because many goods are imported from Europe. The important food and household goods such as gas are very expensive to buy. It is one of the safest cities to live in but it is the most expensive.
{{Addis Ababa}}
The Ethiopian capital comes in second place. It is home to five million people. Addis Ababa has also been on the top of the list for quite some time. It is one of the most expensive places to buy property in Africa.
According to the latest data, the cost of living in Addis Ababa of a family of four estimated monthly cost is US$2,044 without rent. A single person’s estimated monthly cost is US$622$ without rent.
{{Abidjan}}
The Ivorian capital city comes after Addis Ababa. It is home to five million people. It has also been on the top of the list since the beginning of this year. In Abidjan, food and other basic necessities are very expensive.
The cost of living in Abidjan estimates that the monthly spending of a family of four is US$2,028$ without rent. A single person’s estimated monthly costs is US$588 without rent.
{{Harare}}
Harare is the capital city of Zimbabwe. It is home to two million people. The cost of living in Harare is very high due to heavy reliance on imports, most quality goods are imported and are double of their price in Europe or USA.
A family of four estimated monthly cost is US$2,003 without rent. A single person’s estimated monthly costs is US$573$ without rent, basic monthly utilities like electricity, water, heating and cooling.
{{Johannesburg}}
Johannesburg is home to six million people. It is the most expensive city in South Africa. The price of cars and fuel increased significantly over the past year, pushing up the cost of living.
It is estimated that the cost of living in Johannesburg is around half that of European cities such as London and Paris while the average salary is lower.
{{Pretoria}}
Pretoria (South Africa) comes after Johannesburg. It is home to 2 million people. In Pretoria, a family of four estimated monthly cost is US$1,934 without rent.
A single person’s estimated monthly cost is US$556 without rent. Pretoria is 62.11% less expensive than New York (without rent) which is the most expensive city in the world. Pretoria is 27.6% more expensive than Kigali even though the rent is 7.26% lower than Kigali.
{{Gaborone}}
Gaborone is the capital city of Botswana. It is home to 208,411 people and comes after Pretoria on the list of the most expensive cities in Africa.
A family of four estimated monthly cost is US$1,852.54 without rent. A single person estimated monthly cost is US$513.91 without rent. Gaborone is 24.94% more expensive than Kigali without rent, on average the rent is 28.82% lower than in Kigali.
{{Cape Town}}
Cape town is home to four million people. It is the 8th most expensive city in Africa according to the report by Statista.
A family of four estimated monthly cost is US$1,879.10 (31,127.18R) without rent, a single person estimated monthly costs are US$533.02 (8,829.50R) without rent.
Cape Town is 23.44% more expensive than Kigali without rent. Rent in Cape Town is 47.12% higher than Kigali.
{{Durban }}
Durban (South Africa) comes in 9th place with a population of 595,000. A family of four estimated monthly cost is US$1,906.74$ (31,585.01R) without rent. A single person estimated monthly cost is US$559.02$ (9,260.21R) without rent.
Durban is 24.07% more expensive than Kigali without rent. Rent in Durban is on average, 15.02% lower than in Kigali.
{{Marrakech}}
At the tenth place is Marrakech ( Morocco). It is home to over a million people and well known for its tourist attractions like Palaces, Mosques and royal gardens.
The estimated monthly cost for a family of four is US$1,567.38 without rent. For a single person, the estimated monthly cost is US$447.92 without rent. Marrakech is 10.01% more expensive than Kigali without rent. Rent in Marrakech is, on average, 31.75% lower than in Kigali.
The land is a gift of Kenya to Rwanda. Amb. Masozera received the land title along with other envoys from five East African countries including Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which were also gifted land in the area.
The 4.047 hectares given to Rwanda will be used to build warehouses for in-transit cargos from Mobassa port before they are shipped to Kigali.
Rwanda already had land in Kenya. In 1986, the then President of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi gave 12 hectares to Rwanda in the vicinity of Mombassa port.
Later, a Kenyan businessman identified as Salad Awale, filed a lawsuit claiming that the land belonged to him.
The businessman said that he had land titles given to him in 1986 valid for 99 years.
The Kenyan High Court ruled that the claimant’s title was not genuine as the details provided on the land differed with those stated on the land’s deed plan. The land was given back to Rwanda.
In 2019, Amb. Dr. Masozera told IGIHE that disputes related to the land had ended where the next move was to have it exploited.
At the time, he revealed that the land can be developed to reduce the time it takes for goods (shipped from or to Rwanda) at Mombassa port or offer the space for rent.
VUP was introduced in 2008 as an Integrated Local Development Program to fast-track poverty eradication, rural growth, and social protection.
Providing loans to individuals with promising projects and paid employment for poor households are among kinds of support extended to beneficiaries.
Speaking to members of the press recently, Kigali City officials revealed that they are set to enable street vendors to benefit from such services.
Kigali City Vice Mayor in charge of Socio-Economic affairs, Martine Urujeni said that they will make possible efforts to ensure street vendors have access to financial services under VUP.
“Through collaboration with Local Administrative Entities Development Agency – LODA, street vendors settled in markets are set to receive financial support to expand their businesses,” she said.
Urujeni disclosed that the city is working with relevant partners to set out terms and conditions for disbursement of loans to street vendors under VUP program for their businesses to thrive.
Kigali City started relocating street vendors to modern markets in 2016. At the time, over 12,197 street vendors were registered in the city including 5,058 from Nyarugenge; 5,149 from Gasabo and 1990 from Kicukiro District.
However, lack of capital was reported to be among challenges facing relocated street vendors pushing them to return to streets.
To address this issue, Kigali City has unveiled a plan to provide them with financial support after settling them in markets.
“We are working with different partners, particularly the Ministry of Local Government, LODA and local leaders to see how we can make follow up lest they abandon the markets,” noted Urujeni.
Normally, street vendors settled in new markets like Nyabugogo Modern Market or Gisimenti among others do not pay rental fees. They are also exempted from taxes for one year.
Apart from loans, Urujeni said that street vendors might also benefit from employments provided under the VUP program.
In the fiscal year 2022/2023, Kigali City allocated Rwf727.5 million for activities meant to stamp out the chaos of street sellers including the construction of new markets.
Kigali City registers 3977 street vendors to be given spaces in markets under construction.
Deng noted that Japan joined other members of G7 and the EU in issuing the statement which confounds black and white and attempts to justify the U.S. connivance at Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to China’s Taiwan region and infringement on China’s sovereignty, made unwarranted accusations and smears against China, grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, seriously violated basic norms governing international relations and the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan, and sent a seriously wrong signal to the international community.
“China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this,” Deng said.
Reiterating China’s position on the Taiwan question, Deng said that the Taiwan question concerns the political foundation of China-Japan relations and the basic trust between the two countries.
Noting that Japan had colonized Taiwan for a long time and thus bears serious historic culpability, Deng said Japan should be more cautious in its words and deeds.
“China strongly urges the Japanese side to abide by the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan and its political commitments on the Taiwan question, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and refrain from going further down the wrong path,” Deng said.
In disregard of China’s grave concerns and firm opposition, Nancy Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan. This constitutes a gross interference in China’s internal affairs. It gravely undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously tramples on the one-China principle, and severely threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the spokesperson added.
The 44-year-old resident of a serene village overlooking a mangrove swamp on the northwestern edges of Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa is proud of the modern railway project for the high importance it attaches to the conservation of marine life.
The Mombasa-Nairobi SGR — which connects Mombasa, the largest port in East Africa, and Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city — is Kenya’s largest infrastructure project since its independence in 1963.
{{Mangrove forests well protected }}
Mohamed, also the founder of Bidii Creek Conservancy, a Mombasa-based green lobby, said during a recent interview with Xinhua that the SGR has provided best practices on blending conservation with infrastructure development.
“I visited the SGR when its construction started and witnessed restoration of the previously degraded sections of the mangrove forest in our locality,” said Mohamed.
“The installation of overpasses and culverts ensured there was minimal disturbance to the mangrove forest which is an important fish breeding site, besides regulating coastal weather,” he added.
Adjacent to Mohamed’s ancestral village, tall concrete pillars support an overpass snaking through pristine beaches and mangrove swamps to allow seamless movement of SGR passengers and cargo trains.
Mohamed and his conservation peers lauded efforts made by China Road and Bridge Corporation, contractor of the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR, to ensure that ecological integrity of the marine ecosystems including mangrove forests and estuaries was not harmed by the infrastructure project.
Five years since its launch, the SGR has earned accolades from local officials and conservationists for prioritizing ecological protection along its corridor.
Philip Jamuhuri Mainga, managing director of Kenya Railways Corporation, said that green ethos has been placed at the center of SGR operations, bringing benefits to local communities in terms of clean air and tranquil landscapes.
“We have performed very well in terms of environmental conservation. The SGR corridor has reduced carbon emission, the trains are well maintained and do not produce waste,” said Mainga.
Unlike trucks, the SGR trains plying along the corridor have not been emitting smoke to the atmosphere, boosting Kenya’s quest for improved air quality, said Cosmas Makewa, station master at the Mombasa SGR Terminus.
According to Makewa, the design and execution of the modern railway project adhered to local environmental protection laws, ensuring a healthy relationship between the contractor and local communities.
“The project had a positive impact on the environment. It did not cut through the sea nor interfered with mangroves. We made temporary culverts to make sure water flowed from the sea to the other side,” said Makewa.
He added that SGR bridges cause minimum disturbance to the ground even as the contractor strengthens partnership with coastal communities to restore depleted sections of mangrove forest.
{{Wildlife taken good care of}}
At the idyllic plains that dot Tsavo National Park, Kenya’s oldest and largest wildlife sanctuary, iconic species including elephants, giraffes and zebras are always spotted passing through underpasses installed by the SGR contractor, to ensure they can migrate uninterruptedly.
The Mombasa-Nairobi SGR snakes through Tsavo National Park, a world-famous tourist destination.
To enhance safety of wildlife, the SGR contractor erected electric fences on both sides of the track besides installing wide underpasses at short intervals to facilitate movement of both large and small animals.
Nancy Githaiga, country director for Kenya at Nairobi-based African Wildlife Foundation, said that establishment of bridges and underpasses aided protection of iconic wildlife species at Tsavo National Park.
Initial fears that the SGR could harm biodiversity, including wildlife, were laid to rest, thanks to the erection of safe passways by the contractor, Githaiga said.
Wildlife protection measures initiated by the SGR contractor should inform future efforts to develop mega infrastructure projects while safeguarding integrity of biodiversity hotspots in Kenya, she added.
{{China’s ecological civilization vision}}
In the view of Leopold Omondi, a campaigner with Nairobi-based green lobby Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR project highlighted the viability of China’s vision of ecological civilization.
“The SGR contractors somehow tried to prevent environmental harm as they laid down the rail from Mombasa to Nairobi. Wild animals’ habitats and the animals themselves were taken care of,” said Omondi.
By learning from China’s ecological civilization model, Kenya stands a better chance of achieving nature-positive growth, he added.
Isaiah Andebe, programs coordinator with Pan-African Media Alliance for Climate Change, said commendable protection of mangroves and wild animals points to successes of the ecological protection plan adopted by the contractor.
He commended the SGR contractor for providing migration corridors for wildlife at Tsavo and Nairobi national parks, and encouraging rainwater harvesting to cater for the animals.
“The SGR adopted greening measures as grass and trees were planted at various sections along the railway line. This not only helps in beautification but also in environmental protection,” said Andebe.
The ins and outs of the current tension over the Taiwan Strait are crystal clear, so are the rights and wrongs. It is the United States which started the trouble, created the crisis, and continuously escalated the tensions, Wang said on the sidelines of meetings of foreign ministers on East Asia cooperation.
“The flagrant provocation by the United States has set an egregious precedent. If it’s not corrected and countered, will the principle of non-interference in internal affairs still exist? Will the international law still be upheld? How can the regional peace be safeguarded?” he asked.
Wang stressed that the statement of the G7 foreign ministers distorts facts and confounds right and wrong.
“Where did they get the right to groundlessly criticize China’s reasonable and lawful measures for safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity? Who granted them the authority? Isn’t it absurd that the infringer is shielded whereas the defender is accused?” he asked.
Noting that the G7’s wrongdoing has aroused great indignation among the Chinese people, Wang said the sovereignty and independence of China and other countries were earned through bloody battles fought by the people and should never be infringed upon again.
Today’s China is no longer the China of the 19th century, and history should not and will not repeat itself, he stressed.
The international community should unequivocally oppose any act that challenges the one-China principle and resist all infringements on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, Wang said.
Regional countries should be more united against any hegemony bullying the region, he said, adding only in this way can regional countries truly safeguard their own security as well as regional peace and stability.
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan flagrantly violated the U.S. commitment made in the joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States, as well as a series of consensus reached between the governments of the two countries, said Hassane Rabehi, Algerian ambassador to China.
Rabehi added that Algeria adheres to the one-China principle, and hopes that the U.S. side will abide by the three China-U.S. Joint Communiques with concrete actions and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.
There is only one China in the world, and the government of the PRC is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, Rabehi said.
Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, which is made clear in Resolution 2758 adopted at the UN General Assembly in 1971, the ambassador said, adding that Pelosi’s Taiwan visit violated the UN Charter and relevant resolutions.
Since the founding of the PRC in 1949, 181 countries, including the United States, have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of recognizing the one-China principle.
Since the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations in 1979, successive U.S. administrations, including the incumbent one, have made it clear that they adhere to the one-China policy, Rabehi noted, expressing the hope that the U.S. side will honor its commitment and cease actions that undermine world peace and stability.
Iraqi Ambassador to China Shorsh Khalid Said reiterated that Iraq’s stance of adhering to the one-China principle is “consistent and firm.”
At a time when the world is facing increasing security challenges, Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan will adversely affect the situation across the Taiwan Strait and jeopardize regional peace and stability, Said noted, adding that China has the wisdom and ability to resolve this crisis, and Iraq supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Syria resolutely opposes Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Syrian Ambassador to China Mhd. Hasanein Khaddam said, calling the move a blatant provocation.
Syria condemns the United States for its interference in China’s internal affairs and for undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, he added.
He said that the United States has been wreaking havoc around the globe and that the U.S. military continues to occupy the main grain and oil-producing regions in Syria, worsening the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Pelosi’s insistence on visiting China’s Taiwan not only aggravates tensions in the Taiwan Strait but also undermines world peace and stability, the ambassador added.
China has always adhered to the path of peaceful development, and the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative proposed by China benefit other countries, he said, adding that Syria will stick to the one-China principle, and support China in taking all necessary measures to safeguard its own sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Mohammad Keshavarz Zadeh, Iranian ambassador to China, expressed Iran’s stance on firmly adhering to the one-China principle, and condemned U.S. long-term acts of interference in the internal affairs of other countries and undermining their national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We support China’s actions in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ambassador added.
It is said that the incident took place in the evening of Thursday as a Congolese soldier chased children grazing sheep to seize their livestock. They were grazing sheep in a plain separating Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Spokesperson of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), Brig Gen Ronald Rwivanga has told IGIHE that the soldier was shot after crossing into Rwanda.
Following the incident, his body was handed over to Congolese leaders at Kabuhanga Border.
There have been different incidents in the plain separating Rwanda and DRC where smugglers attempting to sneak into Rwanda and Congolese soldiers crossing into Rwanda were confused with enemies and shot dead.
Combatants of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) terrorist group have been also maneuvering through the same plain to attack nearby sectors including Bugeshi, Busasamana and Cyanzarwe.
In June this year, a Congolese soldier was shot dead as he attacked Rwandan Policemen on guard with a rapid fire at the country’s small border with Rwanda in Rubavu District commonly known as ‘Petite Barrière’.
At the time, RDF released a statement indicating that the attacker who also opened fire on civilians crossing the border was shot back in self-defence.
“This morning at around 08:45 a.m., an unidentified Congolese soldier armed with an AK 47 rifle crossed the “Petite Barrière” border in Rubavu District and began shooting at Rwandan security personnel and civilians crossing the border, injuring two Rwandan police officers. A Rwanda National Police officer on duty shot back in self defence, to protect civilians crossing the border and border agents,” reads part of the statement released in June.
RDF also disclosed that the Congolese soldier was shot dead 25 metres inside Rwandan territory and requested probe into the circumstances.
